Source: Thrown away like slaves: Zim migrants in SA face rising forced labour fears –Newsday Zimbabwe
FOR years, South Africa has represented survival for thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing economic collapse, unemployment and political uncertainty back home.
But for many migrants, the dream of dignity and opportunity is increasingly being replaced by fear, exploitation and conditions that activists say resemble modern-day slavery.
As uncertainty continues over the future of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit, migrant workers say they are being threatened with dismissal, intimidation and economic ruin by employers who are taking advantage of confusion surrounding immigration documentation.
At the centre of the growing storm is a warning from Africa Diaspora Forum executive director and Zimbabwe Community in South Africa leader Ngqabutho Mabhena, who says some employers are weaponising migrants’ vulnerability to strip them of labour rights and protections.
“We cannot allow a situation where we bring back slavery, where people are summarily dismissed on the spot without anything,” Mabhena said in a widely circulated address.
“You cannot then be treated like a slave.”
The Zimbabwe Exemption Permit remains legally valid until May 29, 2027, following a landmark Pretoria High Court ruling that halted attempts to terminate the programme.
Yet despite those legal protections, many Zimbabwean workers say employers are demanding new documentation within impossibly short deadlines or threatening immediate dismissal.
For migrants already living on the edge of survival, the consequences are devastating.
On farms across Limpopo, in restaurants in Johannesburg, on construction sites in Gauteng and in private homes in affluent suburbs, foreign workers often occupy some of the most insecure jobs in the economy.
Many are underpaid, denied formal contracts or forced to endure abusive working conditions because they fear deportation or unemployment more than exploitation itself.
Labour activists warn that the current climate of uncertainty is creating fertile ground for forced labour practices to flourish.
Some workers reportedly receive ultimatums to “fix” their documentation within days, despite employers knowing that immigration processes can take months or even years.
“They know fully well that in the two weeks they are giving you, you are not going to produce a permit, and then they simply fire you,” Mabhena said.
Human rights groups say such practices mirror patterns commonly associated with modern-day slavery, where vulnerable workers become trapped through fear, economic dependency and the constant threat of removal.
Undocumented migrants, or those with uncertain immigration status, rarely report abuse.
Many avoid labour offices, police stations or courts because they fear arrest, detention or xenophobic harassment.
That silence has allowed exploitation to thrive quietly beneath South Africa’s formal economy.
Employers accused of exploiting migrant labour often rely on the desperation of workers willing to accept almost any conditions simply to survive.
In some sectors, migrants reportedly work excessive hours without overtime pay, receive wages below the legal minimum, or are dismissed without notice, compensation or benefits.
Mabhena argued that employers who knowingly hired undocumented workers cannot suddenly claim innocence when immigration tensions escalate.
“While it is illegal in terms of immigration laws and labour laws to employ a person who is not documented, you cannot allow a situation where employers avoid penalties by throwing workers away like they are nothing,” he said.
“So the two of us violated the law.”
Analysts say Zimbabweans have become particularly vulnerable because they form one of the largest migrant communities in South Africa while also facing growing anti-immigrant sentiment.
Sporadic xenophobic violence and anti-foreigner protests in recent months have intensified fear among migrant communities.
Several African governments, including those of Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Ghana and Nigeria, have reportedly begun contingency planning for citizens fearing unrest linked to planned anti-immigrant demonstrations.
For many migrants, the fear is no longer limited to deportation.
It is hunger.
It is homelessness.
It is becoming disposable labour in an economy that depends heavily on foreign workers while politically rejecting them.
Rights campaigners say this contradiction lies at the heart of the crisis.
Migrants remain essential to sectors such as agriculture, hospitality, domestic work and construction, yet many continue to exist outside meaningful labour protection.
Without secure documentation, workers become easy targets for intimidation.
Without legal certainty, exploitation becomes normalised.
Without protection, dismissal becomes a weapon.
Mabhena urged Zimbabwean migrants not to surrender their labour rights despite mounting pressure.
“They must dismiss you with benefits. They must pay you what is due to you,” he said.
He also called on employers to seek proper clarification from South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs rather than using fear and uncertainty to purge migrant workers.
The South African Department of Home Affairs has since launched a court-ordered stakeholder consultation process on the future of both the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit and Lesotho Exemption Permit programmes.
But for many Zimbabweans living hand-to-mouth in South Africa, policy discussions taking place in conference rooms offer little comfort.
Their reality is immediate.
A missed salary means unpaid rent.
A dismissal means hunger.
And amid growing uncertainty, activists warn that exploitation is steadily hardening into a new form of slavery hidden behind immigration politics and economic desperation.
Concerns over modern slavery, forced labour and unfair labour practices have also been reinforced by findings from South Africa’s Department of Employment and Labour and Parliament.
The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) declared sweatshop conditions in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, a national crisis after a joint inspection by the Department of Employment and Labour and Parliament uncovered widespread labour and immigration violations in factories linked to major retailers.
The findings emerged during SACTWU’s national bargaining conference held in Cape Town recently, where more than 400 delegates representing workers across 21 sectors resolved to intensify the fight for living wages and decent working conditions.
According to the union, a joint inspection blitz conducted on February 5, 2026, in the Amajuba District exposed “extreme exploitation, unsafe workplaces and slave-like practices” in factories supplying some of South Africa’s biggest retail chains, including Mr Price, Pick n Pay, Ackermans, Pepkor and Jet.
The inspections, overseen by South Africa’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour, reportedly found factories operating in violation of labour laws, occupational health and safety regulations, and immigration requirements.
SACTWU general secretary Bonita Loubser confirmed that many workers employed in the factories were undocumented migrants, making them particularly vulnerable to exploitation.
The union said it would pursue legal action through the courts and bargaining councils to compel compliance with national labour laws and improve working conditions.
Delegates at the conference emphasised the importance of collective bargaining in defending workers against exploitation and poverty wages.
“We are workers by day, family members at home and community members by night,” one delegate told the gathering, highlighting the social and economic pressures facing workers in the clothing and textile sector.
The conference, held under the theme Unity, Jobs, Growth and Service to Members, brought together workers from sectors including clothing, footwear, tanning, laundry, farming and agro-processing.
SACTWU, formed in 1989, says it represents more than 100 000 workers.
Congress of South African Trade Unions president Zingiswa Losi addressed delegates and stressed the importance of organised labour in protecting workers’ rights.
“Trade unions organise workers, defend rights and transform society,” Losi said.
She urged unions to recruit more young workers and shop stewards to strengthen the labour movement amid growing economic challenges and changing labour patterns.
The conference further called for stronger protections for local industries under the African Continental Free Trade Area and other trade agreements, while urging government to fully implement the Retail-Clothing, Footwear, Textile and Leather Masterplan to safeguard jobs and combat the influx of cheap imports.
The revelations have intensified scrutiny of labour conditions within South Africa’s clothing and textile supply chains, particularly in factories employing undocumented migrant labour under poor working conditions.
